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Government Building

Greece's legislature has ratified a contentious work legislation that permits extended-length work shifts, despite strong opposition and nationwide strike actions.

Government officials claimed the measure will revamp Greek work laws, but critics from the left-wing faction described it as a "harmful law."

Key Provisions of the New Work Legislation

Under the freshly approved law, annual overtime is also at 150 hours, while the regular forty-hour workweek remains in place.

The government emphasizes that the longer workday is elective, only affects the private sector, and can only be applied for up to 37 days annually.

Parliamentary Backing and Opposition

Thursday's vote was backed by MPs from the governing centre-right political group, with the moderate faction – now the main opposition – rejecting the legislation, while the left-wing party abstained.

Labor unions have staged two general strikes demanding the bill's withdrawal recently that brought transportation and public services to a standstill.

Government Defense and Worker Safeguards

A senior official supported the legislation, claiming the reforms bring in line national legislation with modern employment realities, and accused opposition leaders of misinforming the citizens.

These regulations will give employees the choice to take on additional hours with the same employer for increased pay, while guaranteeing they will not be fired for declining overtime.

This follows European Union labor rules, which cap the mean workweek to 48 hours including overtime but allow adjustments over 12 months, as stated by the administration.

Critical Perspectives and Union Responses

But, opposition parties have accused the government of eroding employee protections and "pushing the nation back to a labor middle age." They say Greek workers currently put in more time than most EU citizens while receiving lower pay and still "struggle to make ends meet."

A major labor organization stated flexible working hours in practice mean "the abolition of the standard workday, the disruption of personal time and the authorization of over-exploitation."

Recent Workplace Reforms and Economic Context

Last year, the country enacted a six-day working week for certain sectors in a bid to stimulate economic growth.

Recent laws, which came into effect at the beginning of July, allow workers to labor up to 48 hours in a week as instead of 40.

EU Work Statistics and National Financial Metrics

• Across the European Union in the previous year, the longest working weeks were observed in Greece (39.8 hours), then Bulgaria (39.0), Poland (38.9) and Romania (38.8).
• The shortest working week in the union is in the Netherlands, according to EU statistics.
• As of this year, Greece's official minimum wage stood at nine hundred sixty-eight euros a month, ranking it in the bottom group among EU countries.
• Unemployment, which had reached a high at twenty-eight percent during the financial crisis, was 8.1% in the summer versus an EU average of five point nine percent, data from the statistical office show.
• Greece is improving since its decade-long debt crisis, which concluded in recent years, but wages and living standards continue to be among the lowest in the EU.